Ms. Liz O' Donnell
T.D.Minister of State
at the Department of Foreign Affairs

at the International
Conference on Financing for Development

Monterrey, Mexico18th-22th March 2001

Address by Ms. Liz O'Donnell T.D.,
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, to the Plenary
Session of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey,
Mexico.

Mr. President,

I would like to thank the Government
and people of Mexico for the warm welcome they have extended to us and
for the magnificent facilities they have placed at our disposal.

I should also like to express my
support for the statement given to the Conference by the Prime Minister
of Spain on behalf of the European Union.

Mr. President,

Our mutual interdependence, in a
globalised world, requires mutual solidarity and a huge collective effort
to address poverty and injustice - the root causes of violence, conflict
and terrorism. However, it would be shameful if the security and economic
self interest of rich countries were seen to replace humanitarianism as
the key motivation for development assistance.

We support the poor, the weak and
the dispossessed not because they represent a menace or threat to our contented
lives. We help them because it is morally and ethically the right thing
to do as members of the human family.

The human capacity and instinct to
help a fellow human being in need is what makes us civilised. The retention
of that basic humanitarian value has never been more important to state
and affirm. It would be to diminish the legacy of thousands of humanitarians,
and many decades of development cooperation, to allow that motivation to
be displaced or downgraded.

ODA must also be made more effective.
Donors must end the proliferation of donor driven aid projects. We should
align our activities in support of country owned poverty reduction strategies.
The best development is owned and inspired by developing countries themselves.

To maximize its impact, our development
assistance should be completely untied.

In order to fulfill their part in
the new development partnerships, our developing country partners need
to make a reality of the Monterrey Consensus provisions on good governance,
democracy, the rule of law and market oriented policies.

Mr. President,

Ireland believes that it is time
for the donor community to take concrete steps to implement the long standing
commitment to the UN ODA target of 0.7% of GNP.

In Ireland's view, it is inconsistent
for the international community to identify a series of time bound development
goals without also making corresponding time bound financial commitments
to ensure that the goals are achieved. The goals will remain purely aspirational
without the money to make them a reality.

Ireland, therefore, made a commitment
to the UN Millennium Summit that our ODA would reach the UN target by 2007.
This commitment has been reflected in our national budgetary process. Ireland's
programme of development cooperation will increase by 55% in 2002 to meet
an interim target of 0.45% of GNP.

Health, particularly the fight against
HIV/AIDS, and education are the key priorities in our partnerships with
developing countries. We agree that a healthy and educated workforce is
not a by-product of development, but a pre-requisite for achieving the
Millennium Development Goals through economic growth that lifts the poor
out of poverty and develops social capital.

We support an inclusive global process
for the identification of an agreed list of Global Public Goods.

Our NGOs and Missionaries have made
a huge contribution to development through the implementation of effective
programmesdelivered at low cost and with total
commitment to support for the poor. Our partnership with them will deepen
as we increase our funding to meet the UN target.

The Doha WTO Ministerial meeting
demonstrated how developing countries can effectively promote their interests
while making a major contribution to global trade negotiations.

We are committed to the effective
implementation of the Doha Development Agenda. Ireland will contribute
an additional 1.5m euro in 2002 to trade capacity building in developing
countries. Developing countries, particularly the Least Developed, must
be in a position to promote their rights and interests in the new trade
round if we are to make further progress towards a fair world trade order.

Ireland recognises the achievements
to date of the HIPC Initiative. We are, however, unconvinced about the
adequacy of relief, particularly for countries with high HIV/AIDS burdens.

We sympathise with the proposal in
the New Economic Partnership for African Development that the long term
objective should be to link debt relief with costed poverty reduction outcomes.
We believe debt relief for the HIPC countries should be considered in relation
to the finance needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This
means that human development indicators should be taken more fully into
account in the debt relief process.

Mr. President

Ireland's national development experience
demonstrates that, given the right domestic conditions, globalisation,
powered by trade and investment, can transform an economy and raise living
standards dramatically.

The Monterrey Consensus provides
the foundation for a global effort to mobilise development finance, from
all sources, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. What is needed
now is resolute action and ethical political leadership. We must deliver
on our promises and rhetoric if we are to ensure that the twenty first
century sees measurable progress in reducing poverty and ending the huge
income gaps in our very unequal world.